The Effects of Composting on the Environment

Every year, over 34 million tons of food waste is generated, but only about 3% makes it to incinerators and compost bins (Reducing Food Waste For Businesses). Reducing waste in landfills by composting can have my benefits to humans and the environment, including healthier soil, cleaner air, and money well spent on better resources. Composting, also known as nature’s natural way of recycling, is breaking down different food waste products biologically into a useful substance that can be used in gardens to make soil more rich and healthy (Composting Benefits). There are numerous benefits of composting food waste instead of carting it away to a landfill.

First, composting has many benefits for the environment. When food is disposed of in landfills, it is decomposed without the use of oxygen by anaerobic bacteria. These bacteria create methane. If more food waste is composted, then less methane is released to contribute to the global warming effect. Methane gas is 21 times more potential to make an effect in the environment than carbon dioxide (Obear). Composting also decreases the need for fertilizers and pesticides on crops. Unlike fertilizers, compost releases nitrogen very slowly, which means there will be a minimal negative impact on ground water and other surface water supplies (Benefits of Using Compost). The composted food is very rich in nutrients from the broken down food and can be used to make crops more healthy (Composting Benefits). Food waste can get very unsanitary if it is in dumpsters and landfills. Animals can get into it and cause problems. If waste is placed in a closed off container for composting, then it becomes much more sanitary and it is out of the way of animals (Rogers).

Another major benefit of composting food waste is that it saves a lot of space in landfills. Over 72% of all waste produced in a year can be composted (Risse). The more food that is placed in the landfill, the faster it fills up. This causes economic and...

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...Pile composting
The animal waste and kitchen waste including some amount of leaves were mixed into the compost heap. Addition of daily generated waste was done in the same heap. Overturning of the compost pile was done in every 3 months for smooth decomposition. At the simplest level, the process of composting simply requires making a heap of wetted organic matter (leaves, "green" food waste, dung etc.) and waiting for the materials to break down into humus after a period of weeks or months. Modern, methodical composting is a multi-step, closely monitored process with measured inputs of water, air, and carbon- and nitrogen-rich materials. The decomposition process is aided by shredding the plant matter, adding water and ensuring proper aeration by regularly turning the mixture. Worms and fungi further break up the material. Aerobic bacteria manage the chemical process by converting the inputs into heat, carbon dioxide and ammonium. The ammonium is further converted by bacteria into plant-nourishing nitrites and nitrates through the process of nitrification.
Compost can be rich in nutrients. It is used in gardens, landscaping, horticulture, and agriculture. The compost itself is beneficial for the land in many ways, including as a soil conditioner, a fertilizer, addition of vital humus or humic acids, and as a natural pesticide for soil. In ecosystems, compost is useful for erosion control, land and stream reclamation, and wetland...

...Effects of Agriculture
on the Environment
Introduction:
Agriculture has changed dramatically, especially since the end of World War II. Food and fibre productivity rose due to new technologies, mechanization, increased chemical use, specialization and government policies that favoured maximizing production. These changes allowed fewer farmers with reduced labour demands to produce the majority of the food and fibre.
Humans, like all other species, exploit their surroundings for the resources they need to survive. Our current exploitation of the world, however, is greater than those of most species. There are many reasons for this exploitation but we will focus on one and that is our technology, which is used for various purposes. Like a few other species, we use tools, but the hand-held tools that we originally used could only adjust extremely local conditions. Today we are able to shape entire regions and our technology has progressed to the point where we can level mountains and control the flow of rivers, something that was simply impossible a relatively short while ago. We can now modify our world relatively easily and quickly.
Agriculture is the major farming activity. Agriculture's scale means not only that large area is directly affected, but that local and even regional climates can be affected. The draining of water from rivers and watersheds for irrigation leads to drier natural habitats. Those rivers that receive runoff from...

...Composting Process Control
C:N Ratio
* Organic mixture will have to provide the microbes with the correct balance of carbon and nitrogen. The ideal ratio for a composting mixture is accepted to be C:N 30.
* C:N ratios within the range of 25:1 to 40:1 result in an efficient process.
* High C:N ratio - without adequate nitrogen, microbes lack the tools required to break down carbon sources. The process will proceed very slowly.
* Low C:N ratio - nitrogen in excess of what the microbes need to break down the available carbon can easily be lost to the atmosphere as ammonia gas.
* C:N ratio for EFB is 60, other materials such as manure (normally 20% of EFB) and POME must be added to achieve C:N of 30 for optimum composting process.
Particle size
* 0.5 – 2 inches – best balance of moisture retention and oxygen diffusion.
* Too large
* Good aeration but will dry out quickly.
* Low surface area – low microbial activities.
* Too small
* Good moisture retention
* Easily become anaerobic because air can’t infiltrate easily.
Control of Moisture
* 45 – 60% of Moisture content.
* Low biological reaction if too dry
* Anaerobic conditions will dominate the composting process if too wet.
* Slowing decomposition
* Generating foul odor
Control of Aeration
* Air requirement is determined by the nature of the composting materials and the...

...benefits are it also contains Sulphur in the readily available form of sulphate for plants to take up. This makes it ideal for low fertility and cropping situations. The Calcium in Superphosphate can be important in some horticultural and hill country situations where it is uneconomic to use lime.
Phosphate is found naturally in bird poo or by the action of guano as a result there are large deposits found around sea bird colonies which can be and are mined. Nauru an island in the South Pacific is famous for it mining sties much of the soil was mined and much of the environment was destroyed.
One of the side affect of using superphosphate is that earth worms can not live in the superphosphate soil. As a result super soils will not have the structure and nutrients which worm provide. Large scale superphosphate use harm some species such as the Giant Gippsland earthworm which has been listed as threatened.
It has no effect on plants if there is no rain due to the way it releases energy that problem has been over come by applying it dissolved in water but it is more expensive. If surface run off occurs on highly fertilized farming area algal blooms can occur resulting in lack of oxygen in the water and marine animals and plants can be killed or harmed. If the run-off fertilizer can also kill coral reefs as it makes the mud sticky and the coral can not cope.
High analysis phosphate fertilizers.
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...Mankind has relied on non-renewable resources for thousands of years, and only recently has it started to take its toll on the environment. Chemists have been experimenting with different types of fuels and adding to gasoline to make it more efficient. This is when ethanol made its debut into the fuel industry, as an additive to gasoline. Ethanol is put into gas as a combatant against water, which can find its way into fuel tanks of vehicles. It reduces the effect that this water has on the health of the vehicle, and as a result increases gas mileage, and also increases the amount of complete combustion. Ethanol consumption has severe drawbacks pertaining to its effect on the environment. Production of ethanol increases the formation of greenhouse gases. It also causes a problem for air pollution in cities and rural areas. Lastly, water pollution due to ethanol is escalating. As a result of the topics listed above, ethanol use has overall negative effects on the environment.
One would think that ethanol (which is made from corn), would reduce the amount of carbon dioxide in the air since it is a plant. A common misconception could be that we burn it and release carbon dioxide, then the gas it taken back in by the crop and replaced with oxygen. People seem to forget there is more than one greenhouse gas; ethanol actually in turn creates more emissions. Larger demand of ethanol will...

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Pesticides & the Effects on the Environment
Melissa Leal
SCI/256
September 29th, 2014
Gretchen Suarez-Pena
Pesticides & the Effects on the Environment
Pesticides pollute land, like the quality of the soil and it effects water, by running off agriculture fields and affecting nearby water sources. Pesticides also have various effects on ecosystems. Furthermore, there is a lasting effect on humans due to bioaccumulation. Pesticides pose a real threat to the environment and are an issue that needs to be addressed.
Pesticides are a substance or mixture of substances for preventing, killing, repelling, mitigating any pests. Many household products do contain pesticides in them. For example, bug sprays insect repellents, rat/rodent poison, flea/tick sprays and/or collars and/or treatments that you may use on your pets. Other examples consist of, disinfectants, sanitizers, bathroom-cleaning products, a lot of lawn and garden products, and chemicals that you use for the swimming pool. As you can see, there are several of products that contain pesticides besides the large amounts that are being used for agriculture purposes. This is a wide spreading problem reason being is that the population is being misinformed on how bad the issue really is. This issue is not just limited to the United States; there are other nations that are being affected by the use of...

...human social groups. The author explored four principles: authority, equality, liberty, and utility. Individuals from social groups that subscribe to the principle of equality, utility, and liberty mention human activity as the lead-cause of climate change. These three principles allow independent thinking or perspectives, unlike social groups with authority-based ideologies in which individuals subscribe to the general perspective of the group. From the analysis of Kahan et al.’s data, individuals from groups that subscribe to the principle of authority believe that the natural variation is the main cause. This variation is important in that it indicates the role of culture as the secondary factor in the variation in views about the environment. The cultural theory holds that people can be expected to form perceptions of the risks of climate change that indicate and reinforce the values that they share with others. The public disagreement on climate change comes from the basic conflict between opposing social groups, whose cultural outlook expose its members to form varying perceptions of environmental and technological risks, in general.
Figure 1. Causes of Climate Change by Principle of Social Organization
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